Page 50 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

50 thePeorian.com
Literarea Review
W hen I decided to read
the new Nikola Tesla
biography followed by
the Richard Dawkins memoir, the
last thing I expected was to find
was a personal link between these
two great scientists – of decidedly
different personal backgrounds
and fields of study, and whose
lives overlapped oh-so-briefly
(Dawkins was born in 1941 while
Tesla died in 1943). That personal
link was Guglielmo Marconi.
The connection between
Marconi and Tesla is relatively
well known: they were contem-
poraries and competitors in the
radio transmission and electrical
biz around the turn of the 20th
century. In the end, although
Tesla had many breakthroughs,
Marconi proved to be more suc-
cessful commercially with his
inventions, overshadowing Tesla
(rightly or wrongly) to this day.
The connection between
Marconi and Dawkins is not
well known but is surprisingly
close as well: Richard’s maternal
grandfather, Alan Wilfred “Bill”
Ladner, worked for Marconi at
the Podhu Wireless Station in
south Cornwall, England, starting
in 1913. The Dawkinses became
such a fixture at the facility
that when it was dismantled in
1933, they acquired several large
instrument panel slates that now
pave the garden of the Dawkins’s
family home in Mullion Cove in
south Cornwall.
So only one degree of Marconi
separates these two great men.
Now, onto their stories.
Tesla: Inventor of the
Electrical Age
W. Bernard Carlson
When it comes to the great
inventors of the electrical age,
for some reason Nikola Tesla
generally is overlooked at least
in American textbooks. Sure, we
read all about Edison, Bell and
even Marconi. But the man who
created modern AC technology
and made great strides in broad-
cast communications receives
barely a passing glance.
As W. Bernard Carlson wrote,
Tesla’s life “had a spectacular
ascent (1884-94)” which was fol-
lowed by “an equally dramatic
descent (1895-1905).” During
those ascending years, Tesla
developed what is known as
the Tesla coil, a high-frequency,
high-voltage transformer; several
radio-controlled devices (includ-
ing remote-control boats!); and
new electric lamps, along with a
myriad of other inventions.
In 1888, he had a patent for
a workable AC motor and the
world of electricity was on the
verge of a technological revolu-
tion. While it brought fame for
Tesla, it also brought on lawsuits
and patent cases, which would
plague him throughout the rest
of his life.
Tesla also had the flair of a
showman, making spectacular
demonstration of his electrical
inventions. One of his favorite
displays involved illuminating
various glass tubes and spheres
with different gases to create a
kind of primitive neon effect.
Some of his machines would send
giant electric bolts across 15-20
feet of space.
TWO ENGAGING BOOKS
ABOUT TWO VERY
DIFFERENT SCIENTISTS
(And their somewhat-surprising connection)
By Kevin Kizer